Befana Bonfire

One day we were driving through our town and went past our local park and municipal building and I noticed the town locals were building a bonfire. I went to High School Pep Rallies, I know what a bonfire looks like when I see one. The question was: "why?" And more importantly, "when are they going to light some sh*t on fire?!" Pardon my french but I have some of my Dad's DNA and seeing a controlled fire is awesome! So I paced around the house wondering how I could find out when this fire would take place, because I knew it was something we needed to see. I got the bright idea that when I went to pick up pizza for our dinner, I'd ask the lady there because she is always able to speak a little English to me. She understood my question and informed me that the sh*t would burn at 8 or so, just a few hours away. I rushed home, force fed everyone pizza and we got bundled up and walked up to the bonfire site. We arrived a little early, but it was great because we got to watch them preparing the Vin Brulee, which is hot spiced wine that they light on fire (I sense a theme) before serving. Just after I took the picture (top left), the guy in the green hat put the fire out with the giant lid and then he and his friends proceeded to taste the wine for quality. It sure did take them quite a few cup fulls before they were sure it was ready to serve! We grabbed a couple of cups, which Steve ended up drinking because I'm not a big fan of hot spiced wine apparently.  

 

At about 8:30, some children of the town lit the bonfire, which our landlord's son told us a few days later, is made up of dried crops harvested in the fields around town. It only took a few minutes before it was fully engulfed and we could feel the heat from our lookout 50 yards away. The kids thought it was great too. While we were there, we ran into some Americans that live in our town and Brian rides the school bus with their daughter. They explained that on the eve of the Epiphany (a religious holiday celebrated by Roman Catholics) every town burns a bonfire in honor of La Befana, a witch who flies around on her broomstick on the eve of the Epiphany delivering candy and toys to good little Italian bambini. Our landlord's son tells us this has equal ranking with Christmas morning for an Italian child. There is more to the story than that, so if you are interested, google "La Befana." At the bonfire, they always sell Vin Brulee, serve a traditional bread, and our town sells a calendar. So, now we know what it is and I can't wait to go again next year.